


Out of the Ashes

by larxenethefirefly



Series: Music of Eternity [11]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-17
Updated: 2014-02-17
Packaged: 2018-01-12 21:18:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1201021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/larxenethefirefly/pseuds/larxenethefirefly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eight has been running from the Time War, but soon he might have to face what he has always known to be inevitable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Out of the Ashes

**Author's Note:**

> This was a therapy fix-it fic after watching Night of the Doctor. Many, many thanks to Ginger for the beta!!!

The distress signal was received as they were sitting down to dinner, Rose avoiding his eyes and cutting up her food angrily. The Doctor let her stew. He knew she was upset at him for running, for dodging what he knew to be the right thing; but the Doctor was terrified. Terrified of the horrors that he had heard from whispers, terrified of what he would become should he go to War, terrified for Rose.

She was a weapon, and Gallifrey knew it. Her abilities to manipulate Time and the universe itself was something the Council was desperate to get their hands on, but the last time Rose had done so he almost hadn’t gotten her back. So when he had received the summons, he had acted on instinct- and he ran.

At first, Rose hadn’t known what he was up to. He kept that information locked and fiercely guarded from their bond, and other than the occasional guilt she was protected from the truth.

But as time went on, as they visited more and more places, even Rose could see evidence of the War. Her Time senses insisted that something was wrong, even though she didn’t know it; and then, just last week, they had landed in the middle of a battle. And Rose had been furious.

When the Daleks had been defeated and the small group of Time Lords were recovering, Rose had dragged him back to the TARDIS and demanded he tell her why he was keeping it a secret. They had rowed, viciously, and it had only ended when he insisted that it was to protect her. Rose had called him a coward for putting this on her, and they hadn’t spoken since. The TARDIS had refused to leave the Vortex, and both avoided each other as much as possible. The Doctor hadn’t even slept in their bed since the fight; hadn’t even dared to sleep for fear of what he might dream.

So when the signal was intercepted, he traced it back to its origin- partly to appease Rose, partly to lessen his guilt. It didn’t surprise him to find out that the ship had been thrown out of the fight raging around Granthair, which was located near to ground zero.

Rose followed after him closely as they raced through the burning ship, the lone driver’s frantic pleadings urging them on. “I’m trying to send a distress signal!” The woman shouted angrily up ahead. “Stop talking about doctors!”

They rounded the corner to see a brunette woman frantically hitting buttons on the navigation panel. “I’m a doctor,” the Doctor called out in introduction, rapidly reading the information on the screens as the woman stared in shock. “Though probably not the one you were expecting.”

Rose raced over to the engines report. “We don’t have much time,” she said. “We need to leave in the next three minutes.”

“Where’s the rest of the crew?” he asked the pilot, hitting a few buttons to show the descent pattern. The results were grim.

“Teleported off,” the pilot replied, shaking.

The Doctor looked at her in surprise. “Why not you?”

“Everyone else was screaming,” she admitted.

He looked at her in admiration. “Welcome aboard. Rose, ready to run?”

“Aboard what?” the woman asked, fearful hope in her eyes.

Rose grinned at her. “We’ll show you.”

They took off down the hallway, ducking as a part of the panel exploded. One hand in Rose’s and the other in the pilot’s, the Doctor led them towards the TARDIS.

“Where are we going?” the woman gasped, flinching as a pipe exploded.

“Back of the ship,” the Doctor replied, tugging Rose to him so she could avoid being burnt.

The woman looked confused. “Why?”

“Because the front crashes first.” He bit back a curse as the doors leading to the next section slammed closed. “Rose! The sonic.”

Rose handed it over. “What’d it do that for?” she asked as he ran it over the doors.

“Emergency protocols,” the woman said, agitated.

As the Doctor tried to override the security Rose smiled soothingly. “What’s your name?”

“Cass,” the woman replied shakily.

“Bit young to be Queen of the Gunship,” the Doctor commented.

She slumped. “I wanted to see the universe. Is it always like this?”

Rose shared a grin with the Doctor. Despite their feud, they knew how to work together, and they always fed off the adventure presented before them. “If we’re lucky,” they said, together, and the doors opened. Rose raced towards the TARDIS in relief, nearly missing Cass’s horrified expression.

“It’s bigger on the inside,” Rose reassured her as Cass screeched to a halt.

“Bigger… on the inside. Is that what you said?” She demanded.

Bewildered, the Doctor nodded. ‘“Yes, come on!”

“It’s a TARDIS!” she accused. “You’re Time Lords!” As the Doctor attempted to take her hand again Cass jerked back. “Don’t touch me!” She exclaimed, nearly crying.

Rose stepped towards her in concern. “Cass, what…?”

“We’re not part of the War,” the Doctor said, seeing how she reacted to Rose. “I swear, we never were.”

She glared at him through her tears. “You’re a Time Lord. Of course you are.”

“Yes, but I’m one of the nice ones,” he said, soothingly.

“Get away from me!” Cass shrieked. It was clear that she was frightened of them, though Rose was surprised at the hatred in her voice. What had she seen that had caused her to react like this?

Rose knew time was running out- she could feel it trickling away like an hourglass, a small pile over a massive mound of fire and dust. She looked at the Doctor in worry.

“Look at the bright side, at least we’re not a Dalek!” the Doctor told Cass, either ignoring or not noticing Rose’s mental urging to get inside the TARDIS.

“Who can tell the difference anymore?” Cass accused, then slammed her hand down on the button to seal off the section. “It’s deadlocked, don’t even try!” She shouted when the Doctor pulled out his screwdriver.

Rose raced over to the window. “Cass, he may be a Time Lord, but I’m not. I know what you have been going through; we’ve seen the devastation the War had caused. Please, let us help you!”

“Go back to your battlefield!” She demanded. “And leave part of the universe still standing.”

The Doctor joined Rose. “We’re not leaving this ship without you!”

Rose could feel the guilt and panic rising up within him. He wanted to save Cass- needed to save her, to prove to himself that he wouldn’t lose who he was in the chaos that was creeping up on them. If he did this one small miracle, perhaps the universe would forgive him for running.

Cass met his gaze squarely. “Then we’re all going to die right here.”

“Cass!” He pleaded, but she merely stepped away from the door.

Rose gripped his shoulders. “We can’t save her, Doctor. She’s right; we aren't any better than the Daleks.” He opened his mouth to argue but she cut him off. “Do you honestly think taking no action is better than fighting? I’ve been trying to tell you exactly what she just said. Running and hiding isn’t helping anyone but yourself!” One hand cupped his cheek. “I know you’re afraid, Doctor. Afraid of what your world has turned into, afraid that they might change you, too. But we can help. You know we can. No one knows the Daleks better than you do, and I’ll be there fighting beside you. I believe in you, Doctor.”

He pulled her into a desperate hug. “I can’t leave her, Rose. She’s dead because of me.”

Rose nodded. “Close your eyes,” she whispered.

The Doctor did so, and the world went silent. Around them the ship collapsed, exploded and crumbled as it made contact with the ground. But inside the bubble Rose had created, Time stood still. Only when the dust had settled and it was safe to move did Rose drop the shield, slumping in his arms.

“Rose?” he asked, and panicked when she didn’t open her eyes. “Rose!”

A woman dressed in a long orange robe approached them. “She will be fine,” she said, almost reverently. “Doctor, you have arrived, just as was foretold.”

He looked at her warily. “Where are we?”

“We are the sisterhood of Karn,” she informed him. “And it was foretold that the Storm and the Wolf would come to us before the end.” She smiled. “And here you are.”

Rose gasped as she suddenly awoke and lurched upwards, eyes wide. “Doctor!” she exclaimed, and he immediately hugged her tightly. “Don’t… don’t ever do that again,” she demanded, shaking.

“I’m here, Rose, you saved me,” he murmured. He looked back up at the woman. “What do you know?”

She held out her hand. “Follow me.”

Despite Rose insisting she was fine, the Doctor carried her as he followed the woman into a cave where a large fire flickered. “The War is getting darker, Doctor,” the woman said. “It threatens all reality. Only you can prevent the destruction it will cause.”

The Doctor looked at her, eyes blazing. “It’s not my war. I will have no part of it.”

Rose gripped his hand. “You know she’s right,” she whispered. “We can’t run forever.”

He looked at her, desperately. “I’m helping where I can, Rose, you know that. And we’ve saved lives where they would have been dead before. How can I regret that?”

“You call yourself a Doctor yet you are healing an amputation with a plaster,” the woman accused. “If you are so insistent that what you are doing is right, attend your patient.”

Two others carried in a limp Cass, and after gently setting Rose down he rushed over to her, screwdriver already running. Rose staggered over to him. “She’s dead, isn’t she?” Rose asked.

He nodded. “Yes,” he said, quietly. Then, “she wanted to see the universe.”

“Then shouldn’t you save the universe in her name?” Rose asked, gently.

His knuckles were white where he gripped the sonic. “I’m not a soldier, Rose,” he said quietly, desperately. “I can’t fight in the front lines and willfully kill, I can’t send my people into a battle they might not survive.” When she pulled him into a hug he clung to her. “What will that make me, Rose? How could I live with myself, knowing that I’ve willingly killed innocent people?”

She kissed his matted curls. “You’ll still be the Doctor, love. What you do does not change who you are. You’ve overthrown tyrants, saved war-torn planets, defeated those who would have taken me from you. How is this any different?”

His mind was in chaos, knowing she was right but not wanting to believe it. To him, stumbling into a conspiracy or a power-hungry king was far, far different from voluntarily signing up for war. In his eyes, it made him a monster- no better than the Daleks that Cass had accused him of being.

Rose let her mind surround his, sending him thoughts of comfort, love, and most of all, belief. She knew that he could do this. It didn’t make him a monster- it made him brave. “Not matter what I’ll always love you,” she whispered.

Finally, she felt him settle, accept the inevitable. “It was a fool’s errand, wasn’t it?” he whispered.

She shook her head. “No. You did help, Doctor, in your own way.”

He took a ragged breath, and looked sadly at Cass. “I’ll fight, but not for me. I’ll fight for people like Cas, who deserve the universe. The people I can otherwise save.”

The woman smiled. “Go, Doctor, with our blessing. Go save us all.”

He looked at her, a darkness already starting to creep into his eyes. “I need no one’s blessing but my own,” he said, quietly. Then he turned and walked away, Rose’s hand clasped tightly in his.

There would be horrors beyond count, sights that would bring him nightmares for decades to come- but with Rose and the TARDIS, he knew that he could overcome them. For people like Cass, who deserved the universe, he would fight. He only prayed that he wouldn’t lose himself along they way.

* * *


End file.
